ALGORITHMIC DRAWINGS
1975
symmetrical
drawings
the beginning
It started with me as an artist reaching for algorithms as a media...
I would incorporate algorithms that described natural phenomena — light waves, sound — into my vision and give presence to in my works.
Not seeing the work on a screen wasn’t a disadvantage, the artwork was in my mind — in the envisioning.
I saw that algorithms could be reconfigured, they were not a hard set of instructions but fluid, allowing me to transform ideas into new forms.
There was a spontaneity that was related to this process, that then related back into the series of works.
Behind the Art
Working with computer in the 1970 necessitated the development of FORTRAN computer programs. The work was created without the use of a graphic interface, and could only be seen after the printout was made.
Using a keypunch machine, the program was punched onto a series of cards. The cards communicated with the mainframe computer, much like those used to weave with a Jacquard loom.
“For me, the gesture of making a mark was experienced through the mathematics. I invented my own programs based on natural forces, because I wanted to capture these invisible sensations in my drawings.” – Joan